Along with a Bollywood actioner (also book here) out to coincide with the Eid festivities, four new movies release in South Africa today to offer film fans thrills of various kinds. Find out about them all below.
Our pick for the week is Civil War, the latest from acclaimed novelist and filmmaker Alex Garland (The Beach, Ex Machina, Annihilation) and A24. In this chilling dystopian tale, set in the near future, the United States has fractured, resulting in Second American Civil War between the American government and the separatist “Western Forces” led by Texas and California. Against this tense, violent backdrop, a team of journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley) struggle to survive as they navigate both sides of the conflict. Also screening in IMAX.
Read our Civil War review here.
Also enjoying an IMAX release is the next entry in the revived Ghostbusters film franchise. Mixing comedy and chills, Afterlife follow-on Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire sees the Spengler family return to New York City to join forces with the original Ghostbusters. The stakes are heightened when a newly found ancient artifact unleashes an evil force with the power to start a new, devastating Ice Age. Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace are joined by the likes of Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts.
Musical biopics are all the rage right now, and with Back to Black, Amy Winehouse joins the likes of Bob Marley, Elvis and Whitney Houston as iconic musical performers who have recently had their lives explored on the big screen. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Back to Black depicts the events that led to Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela) creating her groundbreaking album. This includes the pressure of mounting fame and her tumultuous on-off-on relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil (Jack O’Connell). Also with Eddie Marsan, Juliet Cowan and Lesley Manville as other members of the Winehouse family.
Check out our review of Back to Black here.
They don’t make many twisty psychological thrillers in the mould of Alfred Hitchcock these days. Mothers’ Instinct bucks that trend with a tale of two 1960s housewives (played by Oscar winners Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway) living a dream existence in suburbia, until a tragic accident sees their close friendship give way to suspicion, guilt and paranoia. Mothers’ Instinct is a remake of a 2018 French thriller, itself based on a novel exploring the darker side of maternal love. Watch this one for the star power as these leading ladies face off.